[04/18/06 - 12:00 AM]Primetime Ratings Report for the Week of April 10-16, 2006

[via press release from ABC]

Primetime Ratings Report For the week of April 10-16, 2006

ABC Claims 3 of the Week�s Top 10 TV Shows in Adults 18-49,
With �Desperate Housewives,� �Lost� and �What About Brian�

�The Ten Commandments� � Part 1 Qualifies As the
Second-Highest Rated Movie This Season Among Adults 18-49

�The Ten Commandments� � Part 2 Draws ABC�s Largest Audience
And Strongest Young Adult Performance on the Night
In Nearly 4 Months with Non-Sports Programming

�Lost� is TV�s No. 1 Scripted Program on Wednesday on All 19 of its Original Telecasts This Season, Continuing to Grow Opposite Fox�s �American Idol� and
Defeating Fox�s �Unanimous� in Viewers and Young Adults to Win at 9:30pm

With Strong Build on its Lead and Throughout its Broadcast Thursday at 9pm, �American Inventor� Takes Second Place in its Hour to CBS� �C.S.I.� in Viewers and Improves the Time Slot for ABC by 5.6 Million Viewers and by 133% in Adults 18-49

�Commander In Chief� Returns to the Lineup, Finishing Second in the Hour
and Building on it Lead-in by 1 Million Viewers

ABC Wins Saturday Night in Total Viewers and Young Adults
With the Net�s Annual Broadcast of �The Ten Commandments�

Leading Easter Sunday by Wide Margins Among Viewers and Young Adults,
ABC Wins its 12th Straight Sunday in the Key Adult 18-49 Sales Demographic

ABC�s �America�s Funniest Home Videos� and �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� Top their Time Periods by Increasing Margins Among Adults 18-49 from 7-9pm

The No. 1 TV Show Sunday in Viewers and Young Adults, ABC�s �Desperate Housewives� Leads its Time Slot by 8.1 Million Viewers and by 132% in Adults 18-49

With Similar Retention of its �Housewives� Lead-in to �Grey�s Anatomy�s� Debut,
ABC�s �What About Brian� Beats CBS and NBC Combined in Adults 18-49 at 10pm

WEEK No. 30:

ABC took second place during the week of April 10, 2006 among Total Viewers (9.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.4/10). Versus the same week last season (w/o 4/11/05), the Net improved by 1.7 million viewers (9.7 million vs. 8.0 million) and built 17% among Adults 18-49 (3.4/10 vs. 2.9/8). ABC was also up from the previous week by 1.6 million viewers and by 10% among young adults.

ABC took second on the night in both Total Viewers (11.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.0/10 � tied with CBS), delivering the Net�s most competitive finish of the night in both Nielsen measures since �Monday Night Football� ended. The Net ranked No. 1 on Monday among Women 18-49 (4.8/12), Teens 12-17 (2.4/8) and Kids 2-11 (2.4/10).

� ABC grew over the same night a year ago (4/11/05) by 4.7 million viewers (11.7 million vs. 7.0 million) and by 43% among Adults 18-49 (4.0/10 vs. 2.8/7).

The �ABC Premiere Event� presentation of �The Ten Commandments� � Part 1 drew 13.8 million viewers and posted a 4.6 rating, 11 share among Adults 18-49 on average during its 2-hour telecast. Part 1 drew ABC�s largest non-sports audience in the 2-hour time block in over 2 years - since 01/05/04. Additionally, the movie produced the Net�s second-strongest Adults 18-49 performance in the time period since the conclusion of �Monday Night Football.�

� Among Adults 18-49, �The Ten Commandments� � Part 1 ranks as the second-highest-rated movie this season, behind only �The CBS Sunday Night Movie � Category 7: The End of the World, Part 1� on 11/06/05.

Tuesday

Boosted by Part 2 of �The Ten Commandments,� ABC drew its largest audience (9.8 million) on the night since January and strongest Adults 18-49 (3.2/8) non-sports performance on Tuesday since December � since 1/10/06 and 12/20/05, respectively.

� ABC grew over the same night a year ago (4/12/05) by 2.4 million viewers (9.8 million vs. 7.4 million) and by 23% among Adults 18-49 (3.2/8 vs. 2.6/7).

� �The Ten Commandments� � Part 2 grew steadily in each half-hour of its 2-hour telecast among young adults. From its first half-hour to its final half-hour, �The Ten Commandments� by grew 14% among Adults 18-49 (3.7/9 to 4.2/12).

� �The Ten Commandments� � Part 2 led the final hour of primetime in Adults 18-49 (4.1/11) and Adults 18-34 (2.8/9).

Wednesday

ABC earned second place on Wednesday evening in Adults 18-49 (3.7/10), defeating third-place CBS by 9% (3.4/9) and fourth-place NBC by 28% (2.9/8).

�Lost� (9:00-10:04 p.m.)

Airing opposite an expanded edition of Fox�s �American Idol� results show during its first half-hour, ABC�s �Lost� surged over its lead-in, saw its audience increase throughout its telecast and continued beating Fox�s �Unanimous� at 9:30 p.m. to win in viewers and young adults. During the 9 o�clock hour, �Lost� (15.7 million & 6.3/16) outdelivered its drama competition in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, CBS� �Criminal Minds� (11.8 million & 3.3/8) and NBC�s �Heist� (5.3 million & 1.9/5).

� Growing from its lead-in, �Lost� gained 2.2 million viewers (14.4 million to 16.6 million) and 16% in Adults 18-49 (5.8/14 to 6.7/17) from its first half-hour to its second half-hour. Winning from 9:30-10:00 p.m., �Lost� defeated second-place Fox�s �Unanimous� by 4.4 million viewers (16.6 million vs. 12.2 million) and by 24% in Adults 18-49 (6.7/17 vs. 5.4/13).

� �Lost� ranked as TV�s No. 1 scripted program on Wednesday in viewers and young adults. The sophomore ABC drama has been the top-rated scripted program on Wednesday in all 19 of its original telecasts this season.

Thursday

�American Inventor� (9:00-10:01 p.m.)

At 9:00 p.m., �American Inventor� built on its lead-in by nearly 1.0 million viewers (7.2 million vs. 6.3 million) and by 32% among Adults 18-49 (2.9/8 vs. 2.2/7), finishing second in the hour among Total Viewers. �American Inventor� increased its audience by 7% (6.9 million to 7.4 million) and by 11% in Adults 18-49 (2.7/8 to 3.0/8) from its first-hour to its second half-hour.

� On average in its first five telecasts, �American Inventor� has improved the 9 o�clock hour for ABC by 5.6 million viewers (11.7 million vs. 5.1 million) and by 133% in Adults 18-49 (4.2/11 vs. 1.8/4), as compared the Net�s performance on the same nights last year.

�Commander In Chief� (10:01-11:00 p.m.)

Growing by 1 million viewers over its lead-in, the return of ABC�s �Commander In Chief� delivered with an average audience of 8.2 million viewers, finishing second in the hour. The freshman drama was up by nearly 1 million viewers compared to ABC�s average in the hour this season (8.2 million vs. 7.3 million).

� �Commander In Chief� was up in Adults 18-49 (2.4/7 vs. 2.3/5) and Adults 18-34 (1.5/5 vs. 1.3/3) compared to its most recent telecast (1/24/06).

Friday

�Primetime� (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

At 9:00 p.m., a special airing of �Primetime,� featuring Diane Sawyer�s exclusive broadcast interview with Tom Cruise, ranked No.1 in its hour among Adults 18-49 (2.3/7 � tied with CBS� �Ghost Whisperer�). In addition, the newsmagazine won its hour among Adults 18-34 (1.8/7) and across each of the key women demographics: Women 18-34 (2.5/9), Women 18-49 (3.1/10) and Women 25-54 (3.8/11).

� �Primetime� surged from its lead-in by nearly 3.0 million viewers (7.0 million vs. 4.1 million) and by 92% among Adults 18-49 (2.3/7 vs. 1.2/5).

�20/20� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

In the final hour of prime, ABC News� �20/20� finished second in its time period, beating NBC�s original �Conviction� by 1.0 million viewers (7.6 million vs. 6.6 million) and by 30% among Adults 18-49 (2.6/8 vs. 2.0/6).

Saturday

Saturday Primetime: �The Ten Commandments� (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC posted an across-the-board winning performance on Saturday during primetime with the Net�s annual broadcast of the 1956 theatrical, �The Ten Commandments,� in Total Viewers (9.4 million) and across each of the key adult demographics: Adults 18-34 (1.8/8), Adults 18-49 (3.0/11) and Adults 25-54 (3.7/11).

� ABC attracted its largest audience in over 2 years and strongest Adults 18-49 rating in over 1 year - since 2/28/04 and 2/26/05, with non-sports programming.

� �The Ten Commandments� (7:00 � 11:22 p.m.) was up from its airing last year (3/19/05) by 2.0 million viewers (8.9 million vs. 6.9 million) and by 33% in Adults 18-49 (2.8/10 vs. 2.1/7).

Sunday

Leading its nearest competition (NBC) on Easter Sunday by over 3 million viewers (12.8 million vs. 9.7 million) and by 89% in Adults 18-49 (5.1/14 vs. 2.7/8), ABC marked its 12th straight week as the No. 1 network on the night in the Adult 18-49 sales demographic. ABC won all 8 half-hours from 7:00-11:00 p.m. The Network also delivered the No. 1 position on the evening among Adults 25-54 (5.6/14), Adults 18-34 (4.1/13), Teens 12-17 (2.7/11) and Kids 2-11 (2.0/9).

� ABC aired the Top 3 TV shows on Sunday among Adults 18-49, including �Desperate Housewives,� the debut telecast of �What About Brian� and �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.� �Desperate Housewives� was also Sunday�s most-watched television show.

Shooting up by 8.2 million viewers and 68% in Adults 18-49 over its lead-in, ABC�s �Desperate Housewives� overshadowed its closest time period competition. ABC�s �Desperate Housewives� outpaced the second-place network, NBC (�Law & Order: C.I.�), during the 9 o�clock hour by 8.1 million viewers (20.0 million vs. 11.9 million) and by 132% in Adults 18-49 (7.9/19 vs. 3.4/8).

�What About Brian� (10:01-11:00 p.m.)

ABC�s special series debut of �What About Brian� won its time period among Adults 18-49 (5.4/14). During the 10 o�clock hour, �What About Brian� beat the combined deliveries of CBS (Sunday Movie) and NBC (�Crossing Jordan�) in Adults 18-49 (5.4/14 vs. 5.3/14).

� On its opening telecast following �Desperate Housewives,� �What About Brian� exhibited similarly solid lead-in retention among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 (63%/68%) to the debut telecast of ABC�s hit drama �Grey�s Anatomy� coming out of �Housewives� last March (68%/67% on 3/27/05).

Source: Nielsen Media Research (Live+SD), week of 4/10/06, or as dated.